Hunter&#39;s garment having cartridge carrying pocket



1967 A. L. TOMBARI 3,337,101

HUNTER'S GARMENT HAVING CARTRIDGE CARRYING POCKET Filed Feb. 21, 1966 INVENTOR ALDO L. Tmraem FIG. 1 g gm ATTQME Hi3 United States Patent 3,337,101 HUNTERS GARMENT HAVING CARTRIDGE CARRYING POCKET Aldo L. Tombari, Statesville, N.C., assignor to The Hettrick Manufacturing Company, Statesville, N.C., a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 21, 1966, Ser. No. 529,107

1 Claim. (Cl. 22414) This invention relates to hunting garments, but more particularly to a hunting garment equipped with a flexible fabric case or pocket for containing shells, cartridges or other relatively heavy articles for enabling them to be readily and quickly available for use as occasion demands.

It is a desideratum to produce a garment having one or more pockets of the above character which can be economically manufactured in quantity production and consists of flexible fabric material, such as canvas, the pockets involving two simple and inexpensive parts or sections which are joined in a unique manner by sewed seams. The pocket is attached permanently to the garment in a convenient position to be manipulated readily to position of use by one hand, thus lending it admirably for use by hunters to contain shells or cartridges, which are instantly available by simply releasing a fastening and allowing it by its own weight to tilt to open position.

Reference is made to the US. patent to Tebbs granted Mar. 31, 1964 under No. 3,127,076, showing a similar pocket which has certain objections, such as its one-piece structure which is uneconomical involving waste of material and is inefficient from a manufacturing standpoint; involves the use of interlocking fold over flaps which after some use become loose so that the pocket closure is unreliable; and is loosely attached to the person so'that unless great care is exercised the pocket becomes disengaged when opened to gain access to the contents and not infrequently shifts on the wearer to either an inconvenient position or to one which is almost inaccessible.

An object is to produce a new and improved hunters garment having a shell or cartridge-receiving pocket having the novel features of construction, arrangement and operation hereinafter described.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter appear and, for purposes of illustration but not of limitation, an embodiment of the invention is shown on the accompanying drawings, in which FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a hunters garment equipped with cartridge or shell-receiving pockets, one being shown closed and the other one open;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the cartridge or shellreceiving pocket in its unfolded position;

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of the elongate body strip used for making the pocket; and

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of the transverse strip also used in making the pocket.

The illustrated embodiment of the invention comprises a hunters garment 10, which in this instance is in the form of a vest formed of flexible fabric material, such for example as canvas or duck. The garment is formed with a back 11 and a front 12, the latter being separated at the center providing two sections, which are in this instance connected by a series of fasteners, such as buttons 13. On opposite sides of the front portion thereof are the usual shell-receiving loops 14 and 15. Spaced slightly upward from the lower edge of the garment at the front and on the right side are shell or cartridge-receiving pockets P. In this instance two of such pockets are shown, one being disposed in its closed or fastened position and the other in its open or dispensing position. It will be understood that the number of these pockets may be varied and they may be both on the left and right hand sides of the garment, although it is preferable that they be disposed at the right and at the lower part of the garment near the lower horizontal edge so as to be most convenient for right hand manipulation.

Each of the pockets P consists of an elongate body strip 16 of canvas or duck, the upper end of which is curved. The length and width of the strip 16 depend upon the desired configuration or size of the pocket. As indicated, the edge portions of the strip 16 are folded under, as indicated at 16a and these folded under edge portions are secured in place by a continuous sewed seam 1611, thereby to reinforce and provide a more finished appearance to the pocket. To provide the shell or cartridgereceiving compartment, a transverse strip 17 of similar textile fabric material is secured by sewed seams to the body strip. The transverse strip 17 has oppositely disposed sides 18 of a suitable dimension to afford the desired depth to the compartment and the sides 19 of the strip have a length which is slightly greater than the width of the body strip 16, for example, a length dimension of one-half inch greater than the width of the body strip. This enables outward bulging of the transverse strip 17 with respect to the body strip 16, affording adequate space to accommodate several shells or cartridges.

As indicated on FIGURE 2, the transverse strip 17 is applied to the lower end of the body strip 16 so that the lower edge of the transverse strip i approximately flush with the lower edge of the body strip 16. Then the side edges of the transverse strip 17 are secured respectively to the body strip by sewed seams 20 and these seams may constitute the same seams as 16a which secure the folded under edges of the body strip 16, so that the same seam may secure the transverse strip 17 to the body strip as well as the folded over edges of the body strip.

After the pocket P has been formed in the manner above indicated, it is secured as a permanent matter to the garment 10. This is accomplished by a pair of parallel sewed seams 21 and 22 on opposite sides of the pocket for enabling the intermediate portion of the pocket to be securely connected to the garment. The seams zl and 22 are transverse to the body strip 16 and are such as approximately to provide a center section for the body strip permanently secured to the garment. Additional to the transverse seams 21 and 22 and to effect a more secure connection with the garment a pair of sewed seams 23 are provide along the edge portions of the body strip extending from the transverse strips 21 to the strips 22.

With the pocket secured as above described it will be understood that the lower section of the pocket is folded upwardly and then the upper portion or flap having the rounded free edge is folded downwardly in overlapping relation to the lower section. The pocket is secured in its closed position by snap fasteners 24 and 25, the fastener 24 being on the inside of the body strip 16 adjacent the curved end and the fastener member 25 being disposed on the underside of the body strip beneath the transverse strip 17 and near its upper portion thereof.

When the pocket containing shells or cartridges is in its closed position, it can be readily and conveniently manipulated by one hand by unfastening the flap portion and allowing the lower section to drop by gravity so that the shells or cartridges are discharged into the hand of the person, making them readily and quickly available. It will also be apparent that the pocket can be conveniently closed by one hand after the desired number of shells or cartridges has been removed. This is obtained by merely flipping the lower section of the pocket upright against the intermediate portion and then overlapping the upper or flap portion and connecting the snap fasteners.

Numerous changes in details of construction, arrangement and choice of materials may be effected without departing from the spirit of the invention, especially as defined by the appended claim.

What I claim is:

A hunting garment of textile fabric material having a body provided with a front and a back, a vertically disposed pocket for shells or the like on the lower part of said front, said pocket comprising an elongate strip of textile fabric material, a pair of vertically spaced parallel sewed seams connecting said strip to said front, said seams being spaced respectively from opposite ends of said strip to provide a lower section, an intermediate section and an upper or flap section, thereby to enable the lower section to be folded upwardly and the flap section folded downwardly in overlapping relation, cooperating fastener elements on the inside of said flap section and the outer side of said lower section for releasably connecting same together, a second strip of textile fabric material of approximately the same width of said first strip but of greater length than the width of said first strip and arranged transversely of the latter with the adjacent edge of said second strip flush with the end edge of said lower section, sewed seams respectively connecting the end edges of said second strip to the wide edges of said first strip to form with the first strip an open ended pocket, whereby when the lower section and flap section are folded in overlapping relation the ends of the pocket are closed and so maintained by said fastener elements but upon release of said fastener elements said pocket tilts downwardly due to the weight of the contents to a position for enabling single-handed removal of the contents.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,127,076 3/1964 Tebbs 224l9 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

RICHARD J. SCANLAN, JR., Examiner. 

